Fellow Wine Lovers,
How…
- Much longer is this brilliant weather going to go on for? I played golf last Sunday in the snow, the equivalent event last year was in shorts.
- On earth did we manage to draw the Test in New Zealand?
- Much longer are we going to bother having a national football team?
- Did Lewis Hamilton explain stopping in his old team’s pitstop to the people upstairs at Mercedes?
- Much good does David Milliband’s departure to New York do for the overall perception of the Labour party?
- Will they keep the pasties warm at Lower Sticker’s Annual Cornish Pasty competition (-6.7c today)?
- Much chocolate can two children eat on Sunday? More than their mother?
- Many of you are still in the office?
Well now, it’s the longest free holiday of the year, ‘Evacuate London 2013’ is in full swing and we are on hand to fill your boots with fine wines to take the edge off the tailbacks and the tantrums that come as part of this exodus. We will even have some wine open too, for the non-drivers.
For those of you not departing, here are our Easter opening hours:
Maundy Thursday 11am – 8pm
Good Friday 11am – 3pm
Easter Saturday 10am – 8pm
Easter Sunday CLOSED
Easter Monday CLOSED
Tuesday Back to Normal, or as close as we ever manage…
So for those of you who are feeling thirsty, we will be opening the following:
Wairau River Pinot Gris 2010, Marlborough, New Zealand £14.99 – the nature of doing what we do often results in text messages from friends in various states of decay saying ‘do you sell so-and so?’, ‘this wine list is impenetrable, here’s a photo, tell me what to buy?’, ‘my mate works at this vineyard and reckons the wines are awesome’… This Pinot Gris falls into the last category. I, in fact, have met the ‘mate’ in question, at an 18th birthday party, in a pub, 20 odd years ago – not sure whether this is the best basis for buying the wine, but I digress. We’ve all changed over the years and I now work in a small wine shop in Wimbledon, he is the Ops manager at a top Kiwi estate, and I now sell his wine.
And it is awesome. A beautiful, ripe apple and blossom nose, a similar palate with a bit more weight and luscious fruit all capped off by an elegant, long finish. As they say on the label ‘best savoured with spontaneity and deep belly laughs.’ Can’t remember the last time I read that on a French wine label.
‘Nez intense, arômes de fruits rouges, fine note boisée. Bouche ronde et fruitée, finale persistente’ is in fact what it says on the next wine – Chateau La Rose du Pin 2009, Bordeaux, France £11.99 – bit of a treat for Wayne and I really this, 2009 Bordeaux, soft and approachable Merlot dominant blend, trust me, you won’t like it.
Speaking of things you won’t like, Hiedler Weissburgunder Eiswein 2007 , Kamptal, Austria £29.99 should probably be perched top of that list. This doesn’t have a nose of tropical ripeness, the mouth is certainly not flooded with lush, beautifully rich, sweet fruits nor does it have any crisp clean acidity to finish it off. Lousy, don’t bother.
Come and see us, taste some wine, discuss Easter eggs – it’s what we’re here for.
Happy holidays!